Morris Adjmi's ground-up Soho office building can rise with LPC approval

On its second attempt, a Morris Adjmi-designed commercial building in Soho, was swiftly approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday. When the project, located at 423, and 419-421 Broadway, first came before the Commission in October, the LPC deemed the building to be too tall, and out of scale in the neighborhood.

It was a different story on Tuesday as Commissioners heaped praises on Adjmi for altering his design. The new tower that will rise at 419-421 Broadway will now stand eight stories tall, and will no longer have the loggias atop the building that the Commissioners previously disliked.

Adjmi also reduced the floor-to-floor height on the structure, and significantly reduced the size of the rooftop bulkhead, choosing instead to place a bunch of the mechanical equipment on the top floor.

Commissioners, including Chair Meenakshi Srinivasan, praised the design team for the changes to the project, and for providing additional context for the height of their building in an area that has many structures in varying heights.

A red brick, three-story building at 423 Broadway is also part of the overall development. That will be refurbished and get an exterior renovation. Both buildings will feature retail on the ground floor, and offices above.

• LPC sends Morris Adjmi’s ‘contextual’ Soho building back to the drawing board [Curbed]